The Winnetka Project: Update!

13 Mar

The seasons are passing and I am not aware of a more beautiful way to watch it happen in Chicago than by a sunrise drive to Winnetka via Lake Shore Drive.

We began with the Master Bathroom. We have 3 bathrooms upstairs to renovate and, out of respect for our clients’ general sanity and hygiene, we phased out our schedule so that we could do our dirty work while still giving them a fully functional bathroom at all times with as minimal an impact to their daily lives as possible. Naturally, the week before we begin, the official “construction-free bathroom” on the 2nd floor has a toilet that starts leaking through the bathroom floor and the plaster ceiling of their 1st floor foyer…glad we were only starting with ONE of the 3 bathrooms!

First issue out of the way! Glad we got that out of our system.

Onward and upwards to demolition! Here are some Before & After photos:

I digress…it was all the rage, we couldn’t wait to install this thing. Tile goes in, grout goes down, vanity is installed…and finally, we’re ready. The plumber locks himself in the bathroom for an afternoon with some choice words and then – It. Is. Revealed.

We walked in and observed a subtle LED blue light shining. As we stood in front of it, the lid gracefully raised up. We stared in awe – cooing at our new marvel. Then, suddenly, it started spraying the bowl with high water pressure – we jumped back (someone may have shrieked). While clutching the wall, we watched in terror as a stem began protruding into the toilet bowl and ROTATING! Our mouths hung open as we watched this artificial intelligence perform a synchronized cleaning cycle that no human could ever consistently master individually. Then, it stopped. In the silence, we relaxed. Then it beeped at us and we jumped (someone may have shrieked) as the toilet seat gracefully lowered itself.

*silence*

Ally: “It’s judging us.”

*solidarity*

The toilet seat had to go.

Who wants to be reminded every day of their remaining life about how dirty they’ve been for the majority of their past? We’ve got enough negativity in our lives without some toilet seat outwitting us every day.

So, we replaced the toilet seat with wainscot tile:

The Master Bathroom is complete. Our clients are sleeping in their bedroom again.